The objective of this Farm to Fork Strategy is to ensure access to sufficient, nutritious, sustainable and healthy food to all Europeans at all times through the transition to sustainable food systems. The transition to sustainable food system will be accelerated and facilitated with the participation of all stakeholders to maximize environmental, health and social benefits, ensure sustainable livelihoods for primary producers, reinforce EU's competitiveness at the global level, increase the resilience of food systems to disasters and any kind of emergencies, such as Covid-19 outbreak, and strengthen consumer protection. To this end, the legislative framework for a sustainable food system will be strengthened by 2023 to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system and strengthen its resilience, ensure food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as facilitating the shift to healthy and sustainable diets. Moreover, a contingency plan for ensuring food supply and food security will be developed to be put in place in times of crisis. Measures will be taken to change consumption patterns and curb food waste in order to overcome the challenge of food insecurity and affordability risks. The shift to sustainable fish and seafood production will be accelerated by bringing fish stocks to sustainable levels, strengthening fisheries management in the Mediterranean in cooperation with all coastal states, improving EU’s fisheries control system, and preventing illegal fish products from entering the EU market. In order to ensure food safety in an environmentally sustainable manner, sustainable practices will be promoted for farmers, fishers and other operators in the food chain to reduce dependency on pesticides and antimicrobials, reduce excess fertilisation, increase organic farming, improve animal welfare, and reverse biodiversity loss. New green business models will be promoted to create new sources of income while protecting the environment through ecofriendly practices. Research and innovation will be developed to accelerate the transition to sustainable, healthy and inclusive food systems from primary production to consumption. The EU will strengthen its international cooperation on food research and innovation, with particular reference to climate change adaptation and mitigation; agro-ecology; sustainable landscape management and land governance; conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; inclusive and fair value chains; nutrition and healthy diets; prevention of and response to food crises, particularly in fragile contexts; resilience and risk preparedness; integrated pest management; plant and animal health and welfare, and food safety standards, antimicrobial resistance as well as sustainability of its coordinated humanitarian and development interventions. Advisory services and data and knowledge sharing will be improved through effective Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems, Farm Sustainability Data Network, Copernicus and European Marine Observation and Data Network. Measures will be taken to facilitate the registration of seed varieties, including for organic farming, and to ensure easier market access for traditional and locally-adapted varieties in order to ensure seed security and diversity. Organic farming will be promoted to reach the objective of at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase in organic aquaculture. Food safety and public health will be improved by updating the legislation in the fields of packaging, labelling, availability, traceability and pricing of food and fraud. At the same time, consumer awareness will be raised to enable them to make informed, healthy and sustainable food choices and to increase responsibility and opportunity of all actors in the food chain.
2020-01-01